Recipe(tried): Sourdough Starter for Laura

Hi Laura,

I just posted a sourdough question a couple of weeks ago. I had found a really neat article about sourdough and I have posted it below. It is a little long but very interesting. I hope you read it. There is a recipe in the article for sourdough starter. It uses flour, water, yeast and potato water (If you boiled potatoes, just use the water that is left over, that's what I did).

I have a read A LOT of recipes for sourdough and they definitely all vary in some way. This particular recipe does not require that you feed it the night before you use it, which is why I really like it.

You do need to feed it in general though, just to keep it alive. This is what I do: I remove one cup of the starter. Then I add 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of water (It really adds up to 2 cups of ingredients, which is what confuses people I think). When you do feed it wait at least 24 hours to use it in a recipe, just to let it settle.

After you have used it in a recipe you need to replenish it. If your recipe calls for 2 cups of starter replace 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of water.

There is also a recipe for bread below and how to substitute sourdough starter in other recipes. Good Luck I hope this helps!

An article from Coutryside Magazine
July/August 1999

Doc Salsbury makes Sourdough
D. L. Salsbury, DVm
3492 Stafford
Wellsville KS 66092

An article on sourdough by Stan and Judy Payne of Licking, missouri, appeared adjacent to one I had written on making hams and bacons, back in the Nov./Dec. 1991 COUNTRYSIDE. The subject really caught my fancy, but it remained an itch I didn't scratch until some months ago. Now I'm hooked. It is so delightfully easy and fun, I can't imagine why I didn't get into sourdough years ago.

Just what is "sourdough"?

Basic sourdough had its beginnings before recorded history. The "leavened" vs. "unleavened" bread mentioned biblically was sourdough. Flour and water were mixed together and set aside to do "something." That "something" was a fortuitous catch of a naturally-occurring "friendly" yeast present on the grain and in the flour. Sometimes they would catch a wild mold that wasn't so friendly and the mixture would spoil, rendering it unusable. It was a tricky procedure. Starting over each time was fraught with disaster. People learned centuries ago that if they "caught" a good starter, they should take care of it.

That was the beginning of our concept of sourdough, and that friendly yeast is now known as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which has the ability to ferment sugars and starches common in cereal grains. It is more commonly known as "bakers' yeast," which was not commonly available in stores until sometime after the turn of the century. Many immigrants to the U.S., especially European bakers, brought their bread starter cultures with them.

Unfortunately, modern bakers' yeast is not an efficient fermenter of starch. Although it will do so weakly, it gets its kicks from sugar.

So, what is the difference between sourdough, with its unique flavor and aroma, and common fresh bread, if both utilize the same yeast?

It's the strain of yeast that's different. Bakers' yeast, and the endless varieties of lager beer, ale, and wine yeasts, are all strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, but that's where the similarity ends. It's these unique strains, containing their peculiar physiological traits, that makes them unique for their particular purpose.

All modern homemade sourdough starter recipes begin with common bakers' yeast - and they are flat! But over time, they will slowly begin to develop that characteristic sourdough flavor. How does this happen?

By beginning with a culture of bakers' yeast, the rapidly developing acid pH and partially anaerobic conditions that develop in the flour and water media are rendered favorable to the culture of the friendly wild yeast in the grain to the detriment of undesirable organisms, especially molds. Over time, with the constant re-inoculation of fresh flour, the strain of yeast in the culture begins to attenuate and/by natural selection, bring out those individual yeast cells with unique genetic traits that are most efficient in fermenting starch. You will notice that, over a period of weeks or months, your sourdough starter will begin to ferment more quickly and more aggressively after each feeding. My starter is now 3-4 times more aggressive than it was at the outset. Whereas it required 3-4 days to complete its fermentation in the beginning, the ferment after feeding is now almost complete in 24 hours! The "sourdough" flavor it imparts to the breads has also increased several-fold.

Preparing the sourdough starter

Variety may be the spice of life, but it is also apparently the key to success. There are literally dozens of recipes for sourdough starters, presumably handed down because "Grandmother did it that way."

Well, all the grandmothers but one couldn't be wrong. They probably used what they had on hand, guided by experience and superstition, so one must assume that there isn't any single "best" recipe.

The singular factor that caught my eye in perusing dozens of these old recipes was the combined variety of flours used, particularly rye and unbleached wheat flour, plus numerous references to the initial use of potato water (which is highly fermentable) and of all things, many references in German recipes to the use of fresh hops in the pollen stage. If it make das bier gut, maybe geputten der hops in das pot maken das brot gut also, ja? Begin with a large-mouthed container, sufficient to easily accept a one-cup measure and to hold a total volume of 5-6 cups. It can be plastic or glass, but if it has a screw-on lid, be sure to poke a small hole in the lid with an ice pick or small nail. If the lid is tight the container could explode. An old cookie jar with a smooth interior or an old ice bucket are ideal.

I began using non-bleached wheat flour, assuming it might contain more "natural" yeast than the bleached variety (but I don't know this for a fact). Once things began working, I substituted small amounts of rye, black rye, and semolina (durum) flour during my regular feedings.

Recipe for starter

2 cups flour
1 cup water
1 cup cooled potato water (this really gets things going)
1 package bread yeast

Mix well and allow to stand in a warm area until there are no more signs of fermentation. (The solution will separate and no more bubbles are present.) Stir well, remove 1 cup of the contents and stir in another cup of flour or flour mix and a cup of water. Do not use "self-rising" flour!

Initially, the new starter is ready to use after 2-3 days, but it will not have that typical sourdough flavor until it has acquired some weeks or months of age.

After the first fermentation is established, you can use it anytime, even if it has gone "flat." Do not refrigerate! Leave it on the counter.

Sourdough bread

2 cups starter
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar or honey
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
5-7 cups flour
1 tablespoon yeast (optional)
1/2 cup wheat germ (optional - add with flour)

Stir butter, sugar and salt into milk and cool to lukewarm. Add sourdough starter. Dissolve soda (and yeast if used) in a little warm water and stir in. Add flour until dough is kneadable. Knead well. Let rise three hours - or about one hour if yeast is used. When doubled, punch down and shape into two loaves. Place in greased loaf pans and let rise until the hump is above edges of pans. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Sourdough pancakes

1 cup sourdough starter
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon honey or sugar
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons oil or melted butter
1/2 cup milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

Mix all ingredients except soda with starter. Heat a griddle or skillet to 375 degrees. Just before cooking, fold dissolved soda into batter. If batter seems too thick, dilute with lukewarm water. Bake as for ordinary pancakes.

Sourdough waffles Use the above recipe with 4 tablespoons oil or melted butter.

Using sourdough in other recipes

Sourdough can be used in almost any recipe for quick breads, cakes, cookies, etc., by this simple substitution formula:

For recipes using 2 cups of liquid, substitute 1 cup sourdough starter for 3/4 cup of the liquid and add 1 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of starter.

Example:
For each 2 cups liquid required in recipe, use:
1 cup sourdough starter
1-1/4 cup liquid (water, milk, etc.)
1 teaspoon baking soda

For each 1 cup liquid required in recipe, use:
1/2 cup sourdough starter
5/8 cup liquid
1/2 teaspoon baking soda